The present invention relates to insulating a building and, in particular, to spraying insulation with foam against a web attached to the building.
It is common place to insulate buildings to assist in maintaining a desired temperature within the building, e.g., to reduce the effect of outside cold temperatures on the temperature within the building. Such insulation can include a variety of insulating materials or particles, which can be provided in different forms. A cording to one well-known process for installing insulation, the insulating particles are sprayed into a cavity behind netting. In another installation process, insulating particles are combine with a foam mixture that is sprayed into a building cavity. The foam dissipates due to loss of its moisture and with the resulting structure providing spaced insulating particles to achieve the desired insulating properties.
With respect to installing insulation using this process involving foam, a building cavity can be defined using selected one or more materials including those made from wood, concrete, metal, or other applicable materials. In the case of a cavity to be insulated that is formed by a metal material, it can happen that the sprayed insulation with foam, when it contacts the metal, does not desirably or sufficiently adhere whereby the foamed insulation unwantedly moves in the cavity, such as sliding downward in a vertically-extending cavity. A key factor that might cause such an unwanted movement might be the temperature of the metal material against which the foamed insulation is sprayed. During certain environmental conditions, the metal material may be so cold that the adhesive in the sprayed foamed insulation does not adhere to the metal. Such unwanted movement can negatively affect the insulation property sought with the insulation, including its R-factor, because after the foam insulation has dried or cured, the insulation is not suitably positioned in the cavity.
It would be desirable, therefore, to avoid or at least reduce the possible unwanted movement of the insulating particles with foam having fibers when sprayed against the building material, without concern as to the temperature of the building material surface that forms the cavity and/or without concern that the surface of the building material is dirty, greasy or otherwise not conducive to holding sprayed insulating particles. Hence, it would be beneficial to be able to spray the insulation with foam even under circumstances where such building materials have a lower or colder temperature.
In accordance with the present invention, apparatus and method are disclosed to insulate a building using a web member attached to the building. The insulation material that is used to insulate the structural members of the building includes a number of insulating particles made of suitable insulation constituents, which can be selected from a large, well-known group of such insulating substances. In a preferred embodiment, the insulating particles are spread apart using an adhesive. In a more preferred embodiment, the insulating particles are spread apart using a foamable substance that includes the adhesive. The foamable substance is mixed with the insulating particles by means of appropriate or available hardware or mechanisms that receive both the foamable substance and the insulating particles. Preferably, the insulating particles are lofted or spread apart using pressurized air. Subsequently, the foamable substance is added to the lofted insulating particles. The insulating material, which can be defined as the combination of the insulating particles and the foamable substance, is output under pressure to form a spray directed to the building member to be insulated.
The apparatus also includes a web member attached to an outer surface of the building member. The web member, in a preferred embodiment, can include a commercially available mesh material or product characterized by wire-like strands that are joined together, with voids or spaces separating portions of the wire strands or other elongated relatively thin elements. In one embodiment, the web member is equivalent to the mesh material that is part of a building structure onto which a layer of stucco is overlayed. The web member must have certain properties including a sufficient strength and a suitable number of spaces or voids for receiving the insulation with foam. The web member can be in the form of a roll of material that is unrolled as it is attached to the outer surface of the building member. The web member has an inner surface adjacent to the building member and an outer surface, which is on the opposite side from the inner surface.
With respect to installing insulation, the web member is attached to the building member to be insulated, for example, by unrolling a roll of the web member in a lateral direction that covers or overlies the surface of the building member. The web member can be attached by conventional fasteners or fixtures, such as staples, stick pins, nails, screws, and the like or by using a satisfactory adhesive. After the web member is attached to the building member, the insulating material can be sprayed or otherwise supplied to the web member. The insulating material is held in place by the web member. Stated another way, the web member assists in maintaining the position of the insulating material at the location on it initially contacts or strikes, thereby avoiding unwanted movement from this sprayed position. The insulating material preferably has an uncured state and a cured state. Once sprayed against the web member, the insulating material is in an uncured state, for example, the insulating material is flowable and malleable. In the cured state, it is not flowable and is not readily malleable.
The insulating material can be sprayed with sufficient force or velocity to cause the insulating particles to pass between the outer and inner surfaces of the web member such that at least some or portions of the insulating material exits or extends from the inner surface of the web member. To achieved desired insulation, it is preferred that the majority of the insulating particles that are sprayed for a particular predetermined area or portion of the web member be disposed outwardly of its outer surface, and not a majority being located inwardly of the outer surface of the web member. In a preferred embodiment, the insulating material fills a least a majority of the voids that are part of the web member and, in a more preferred embodiment, substantially all of the voids in the web member are filled with the flowable insulating material.
Based on the foregoing summary, a number of salient features of the present invention are immediately recognized. Capturing of sprayed insulating material is facilitated using a web member attached to a building that is being insulated. Regardless of the surface temperature of the building materials, the web member acts to hold or attract the insulating material that preferably includes a foam, that is sprayed against the web member. Hence, whether the temperature of the building member is relatively high, relatively low or normal, the sprayed insulating material is held at the same, or substantially the same, location to which it was directed or sprayed. Some, a majority, or substantially all of the voids that make up the web member can be filled with insulating material, including having some of the insulating material pass through or extend from an inner surface of the web member. Such an installation of the insulating material results in desired insulation of the building including using the insulating material found in the voids of the web member. Additionally, it has been observed or determined that the web member with insulating material results in improved or desired acoustic properties by absorbing or dampening sound or sound waves. That is, in comparison with such a web member that does not have any such insulating material dispersed throughout or in its voids, there is a noticeable difference in sound absorption. For example, a web member that has its voids substantially filled with the insulating material at least doubles the sound wave absorption such that the degree, intensity or amount of sound waves that are able to pass through such a web member having insulating material in its voids is reduced by at least one-half.
Additional advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent, particularly when taken together with the following drawings.